The field of the invention is medical appliances, and the invention relates more particularly to orthotics. The invention relates still more particularly to knee braces of the type useful for athletes and post-op, post-injury patients, particularly those with damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Many new post-injury knee orthoses have appeared on the market, and many such braces have found widespread use and have enabled the users to prevent further knee injury. The effectiveness of such knee braces differs widely, however, and factors such as comfort, stability, restrictiveness, suspension, weight, appearance, durability, price availability and service are all factors which must be considered. Even the most scientifically designed brace will be of no benefit if the patient dislikes wearing it, or if it is very time consuming to secure.
A pair of related patents have recently issued showing a knee brace of the general type discussed below, namely, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,723,539 and 4,773,404. Under load and at a 30.degree. s of flexion, however, there is eight millimeters of anterior draw in the hinge alone. It has been found that such hinge permits excessive translocation of the tibia by following the motion of the tibia rather than by guiding it.